The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-05-07
DIAMONDS AND DIAMOND CUTTERS
EoW Americans Have ExceAea All
Others in q Difficult Art

"Are there any DIAMONDS cut and po-.shed
h this country" diamond merchant in
ohm utreet wos asked.
"a GOOD many Of mem. Wa, Gne reply.
There are about fifteen houses engaged in
he business in this city and elsewhere"
"When and where did the industry gain
Is firs5 foothoid here"
"It ia nearly seventeen years now since
Morse, of Boston, imported cutter and
ome polshers and began the business in a
modest way. Herman is the pioneer in this
lity but both Henry Fera and A. Hessels
,tarted in shortly atterward, and number
# others followed within few years.
MANY have given it up, however, as I'M
profitable, so that there are not to exceed
fifteen firms that do any finishing of jewels
from the rough"
"To how many wobmen does this indus
nv give employment
swell, there are probably seventeen men
who call themselves cutters, but not more
Than five of them are really expert. OF the
holishers there are nearly 125 who rate them
seIves as such. but the genuine masters of
fhis delicate handicraft can be counted on
the fingers of one hand. The excess of
nolshers over cutters come from the fact
Ehat single cutter can lay out enough work
in a day to keep a polisher busy for two or
three weeks. Nearly all of these people
have been brought from Europe, but young
as the industry is in this country, some of
the very finest workmen are natives of the
United States and have learned the trade
here"
"Can a diamond be cut here as well as
abroadw
ayes. sir: better Indeed, our work has
been of such quality as to force the for
eigners greatly to improve theirs. They
formerly cut stone with reference to its
weight only Their aim was to cut away as
little as possible, so as to produce heavy
brilliant and one of greater value, as they
thought. Our people from the first went on
a different plan. The desire of the Ameri-
can cutters has been to turn out stones of
perfect color and light. To do this we have
had to sacrifice more of the rough material,
but the wisdom of this procedure is seen in
the fact that we have produced diamonds of
greater market value than the larger and
less perfectly lighted stones of the foreign
markets. In the end they were
obliged to adopt our methods. The
stones that formerly lost not to exceed 40
per cent of weight in the process of cutting
and polishing now suffer an average
loss of from So to So per cent. The best
proof of this is found in the fact that the
principal work of our diamond cutters is in
the recruiting of old brilliants, defective in
shape and imperfect in light. They were
cut on the old plan of preserving the great
est weight Such stones are coming to New
York daily from all parts of the country.
One firm recut upward of 200 stones last
month, some of which came from Maine,
some from California, and others from
Louisiana and Texas. The diamonds came
here clumsy in shape, and like glass for bril-
lance. They were returned reduced in size,
but shapely and sparkling. Proper cutting
had brought out their real beauty"
"Does the business pay wellg'
II doubt if more than one firm has made
any money by cutting from the rough. The
main part of the business is in repairing or
recutting. There are several obstacles in
the way of successful cutting from the
rough. In the first place we have no market
for the cleavage or refuse. Labor is too high
here to allow us to make rose diamonds of
the cleavage. But in Europe they put few
facets on the chips and then find a ready
market in India and throughout the Orient
There thesechip diamonds are used in sword
and dagger hits, in harnesses and other
ways. Then, again, there is no demand
here for inferior stones. The American peo-
pie to-day buy the finest diamonds in the
market. European agents habitually re-
serve their finest stones for the dealers in
this country. Now, in buying in the rough
there is always a risk of getting a poor
stone. Hence you can plainly see that the
inducements to finish diamonds from the
rough here are rather uncertain"
HAS the American inventor produced any
machinery to simplify workg'
Yes Hessels has made some marked
improvements in machinery for cutting.
With his improved machines boys and girls
OF IA or 10, after little experience, can do
the work fairly WELL but the finest work is
still done by hand"
Where do we get the greater part of our
diamonds!"
''In Europe. Paris and London are the
two great markets. But the American
buyer who goes to Paris wants to keep his
eye open: Those Frenchmen are very willy.
Ihey will fool even experienced diamond
merchants. On going to one of their stores
you are shown into luxuriously appointed
waiting room, which has been fitted up with
INFINITE pains. Here at your ease you
can examine the stones that are
S TioVsIr to you; If you have not pre-;
Vlously received pointer, you will
probably fail to notice that all the hangings
ana fittings are of subdued yellow. The
light comes to you through yellow glass or
curtains, but there is nothing pronounced
enough TO attract attention This is the
flrst step in familiarizing the eye of the pur-
CHASER with the yellow shade. The second
step Is taken when the dealer picks from 4
case very yellow stone, and then suddenly
replaces it with the remark that he had had
no intention to show you stone so much
OH color. The same error is repeated two
or three times, each time the stone being of
a, lighter shade. At last the train is laid
Inc diamonds, still considerably off color,
winch the dealer desires to sell are now
prought out, and, by comparison, appear to
De or the purest white. Many incautious
men have been thus caught"
y w. Schuman, the veteran dealer in
john street, subsequently told how an mex
perienced man may buy diamonds in COM
paratlve safety. Said he: There are few
mat understand the selection of a diamond
II no other business are customers so large
Y dependent upon the skill and integrity of
the dealer. Still there should be no trouble
~ discriminating among white, blue white,
brown, black, green, pink, and the several
shades OF yellow. The standard of COM
parlson is the true white. You Of course
know that white with a slight blue tint
makes the most valuable stone Now, to
prove the color of the gem, place il unset
upon piece of white paper. Then breathe
upon It, This will dim the stone, which,
Whlie without refraction, will show the
slghtest tlnge Of color. In mounted dia-
m0nds this test is not so satisfactory
Inc real beauty of the diamond Hes in its
prllllance or fire. Now, while there are
mathematical laws and the opinions of indi-
Vluual cutters which determine the number
u ad proportion of facets and the relations Of